Dino Melaye, senator representing Kogi west, says he hid on a tree when he was allegedly attacked by gunmen while travelling to his state on Thursday.

In a chat with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, Melaye said he observed a Toyota Sienna trailing him after he left Abuja for Lokoja where he was to attend a court hearing on the illegal arms possession charge filed against him.

The lawmaker said the Toyota Sienna overtook him, blocked and started shooting at his vehicle.

Melaye said two policemen came into the bush in search of him, but they didn’t realise he was on the tree.

The senator accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being silent after four alleged assassination attempts on him.

He said: “When I realised that they wanted to burn my vehicle, I quickly opened the car and ran into the bush. I had to run for my life. It was the grace of God that made me to escape. When I got into the bush, I climbed a tree and stayed there. While on the tree, I saw two of the policemen coming to look for me but they didn’t know I was on the tree. I was in the bush for 11 hours.

“My brother that was in one of the vehicles didn’t know what happened. So, he had to raise an alarm that I was kidnapped. He went to the Gwagwalada police station and reported the matter. At first, they wanted to act, but when one of them made a call, they started tossing my brother up and down.

“They then asked him to go and wait for them at the scene, that they would join him. But he waited for more than 45 minutes, they didn’t come. So, it’s not true for the police to say that none of my family members reported the matter.”

“If anything happens to me, the Nigerian police and (Kogi state) Yahaya Bello should be held responsible.

“I went through four assassination attempts as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but the president remained silent. Definitely, I’m going to call the attention of the international community.

“They withdrew my security since April 22, and I wrote the police to restore my security, but nothing was done. As a senator, I deserve security personnel around me. In fact, even as an ordinary citizen, I deserve security.”

Melaye defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday.